The City of Edmonton may soon ban right turns at red lights in some locations.
The Office of Traffic Safety said it’s reviewing busy streets, such as Whyte Avenue and Jasper Avenue, before it makes a decision.
READ MORE: Edmonton traffic safety improving, but a long road ahead
“In some locations, where you have the interaction between vehicles and pedestrians, the left and right turn is contributing to serious injuries and fatalities,” said Gerry Shimko, executive director of the Office of Traffic Safety.
Shimko said he’s not sure how long it’ll take to review the potential change but believes it could reduce collisions involving pedestrians.
“Driving downtown is a high workload,” he said. “If we can increase safety, that’s one of the things we would consider.”
READ MORE: Edmonton sees rise in fatal collisions but number of pedestrian and bike crashes drop
An Office of Traffic Safety report released last month showed the total number of collisions in Edmonton went up 3.3 per cent to 2017 from 2016, and the number of fatal collisions increased 23.8 per cent during the same period.
However, the number of both pedestrian collisions and bicycle collisions went down in 2017 from 2016. There were 270 collisions involving pedestrians in 2017, a decrease of 7.5 per cent from 292 in 2016. There were 143 bicycle collisions, down 16 per cent from 171.
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